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Newtown Creek Hall of Shame

You see a lot of detail in the binoculars, but why would you want to? It’s desolate.

— passenger, 9/16/07 boat tour of Newtown Creek.

Without further ado, here are some pictures from yesterday’s sojourn down Newtown Creek. Enjoy!

See that milky looking stuff? That’s petroleum.

Here’s some more.

Three time’s a charm!

That black cordon in the background collects petroleum that is leaking into the creek. This “product” will be skimmed, sold and converted into gasoline. Profiteering off pollution. Think about that the next time you are topping off your tank at the gas station.

Pollution Recovery Project in Progress.

The gray stuff on the tires? That’s from hosing cement residue into the creek. This practice is illegal.

This is a concentrated sewage overrun pipe. They can be identified by a green sign, like the one to the left.

See this pipe? It does not have such a sign. You are, in all likelihood, witnessing an act of illegal dumping.

This muck was dredged up by the boat as it turned around in English Kills. It is a cocktail of sulfur, petroleum, and 100+ years of dumping god only knows what into Newtown Creek. The water really is that shade of green, by the way; it is incapable of supporting any life whatsoever. It also reeks. The best way I can describe the odor is that goop a hairdresser uses when giving you a perm: acrid, pungent and sulfurous.

Angry yet? If you aren’t, you should be. Allowing a situation like this to persist (as long as it has) is inexcusable.